Flew at Meinecke Park, a block from the house, today. Wind was on the low side, so I flew the Red/Wht/Blk Spiro w/SUL bridle and Diamond rods. I weighted the bottoms of the uprights to see if I could improve the glide ratio. That was, of course, after my usual "chop off the excess weight" routine that I do with each new kite. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet is all I can say. Lose 10 feet, gain 50+. Lazy man's dream come true.

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MARK

"...it's a fair wind blowin' warm, out of the south over my shoulder, guess I'll set a course and go." CSN&Y

Mike wrote:that is a beautiful kite, Mark. I seem to recall that the original B-series kites briefly came with weights that you could add just as you did.

Thanks, Mike. I believe at this time it is a 1-of-3 made. Pricey, but nice. Of course the first thing I did was chop the 20 grams of unnecessary weight off of it.

I remember seeing that somewhere; then I lost track of any mention of it. 3/16 of an ounce per upright works nicely on a one-piece sail. Might need 1/4 ounce on a panelled sail. Just started playing with it a couple of weeks ago, but the difference is immediately evident. Now I just have to experiment a bit to see what the ideal weighting per type of sail is.

MARK

"...it's a fair wind blowin' warm, out of the south over my shoulder, guess I'll set a course and go." CSN&Y

You mean let Steve pull a kite out of the air faster with extra weight . . . . because he just can't get the timing or touch right . . . maybe in another 15 years or so I'll be able to axel consistently and properly. I did get a tip from JB last fall that helped me a bit, but I still can't get it right or flat enough. And I still pull the kite out of the air pretty frequently by yanking too hard or getting my timing wrong. frustrated . . . .

Actually, I think you are being semi-serious - the weights in the tails would probably help get it flatter. I should give it a try.

goestoeleven wrote:You mean let Steve pull a kite out of the air faster with extra weight . . . . because he just can't get the timing or touch right . . . maybe in another 15 years or so I'll be able to axel consistently and properly. I did get a tip from JB last fall that helped me a bit, but I still can't get it right or flat enough. And I still pull the kite out of the air pretty frequently by yanking too hard or getting my timing wrong. frustrated . . . .

Actually, I think you are being semi-serious - the weights in the tails would probably help get it flatter. I should give it a try.

I forgot to mention it, but, yes, the weights actually do help to flatten out the axel.

MARK

"...it's a fair wind blowin' warm, out of the south over my shoulder, guess I'll set a course and go." CSN&Y